The 18th-century gatehouse to a grand Wiltshire estate becomes a charming place to stay

A chance tip-off from a friend first brought hotelier and publican Charlie Luxton to the Fonthill Estate in southwest Wiltshire. It was 2008 and, having worked as Head of Operations at Soho House, Luxton was looking for a new challenge: a pub to develop. It was instant, hopeless love-at-first-sight when he laid eyes on the then-derelict Beckford Arms, an ivy-covered, honeyed-stone gem of a pub in one of England’s most beautiful landscapes. “I went on to look around about 50 other pubs after that but it was no use, my head had been turned”.

In the intervening years, Luxton has driven under the magnificent Fonthill Arch, the historic entrance to the Fonthill Estate, owned by Lord Margadale, countless times en route to the pub. “You turn off the A303 and after a mile, everything suddenly slows down, and you see this extraordinary building ahead. Through The Arch there is the calming lake on the left, the cricket pitch on the right. You are in a valley with not a single house in view. It’s an extraordinarily beautiful place,” he says.

It was only when the tenant of The Arch vacated it – an Estate woodsman who had lived there for 25 years – that Luxton was able to swoop in. His vision was to transform it into a luxurious and extra-special place to stay; an extra offering to the bedrooms at the Beckford Arms. In a joint venture with the Estate, Luxton enlisted the help of his good friend, Patrick O’Donnell, the International Brand Ambassador at Farrow & Ball, to work on the interiors.

Brand-new colours from the paint company feature alongside archive shades hand-picked by Patrick. The two men brought their own personality and skills to the project – Charlie’s eye for modern art, specifically graphic prints, and his lifelong passion for trawling auction sites, riffling through out-of-the-way antiques shops and the far-reaches of eBay come to fruition in an interior that is layered, deeply comfortable and, crucially, highly sympathetic to this extraordinary building. Meanwhile Patrick encouraged Charlie to stretch out of his comfort zone. “Charlie has a great eye, but I think he would have played it safe if it weren’t for my input. I encouraged him to be bolder, a bit braver.”

“The kitchen was always going to be the starting point,” says Patrick. “We looked at Huguenot houses - we wanted it to look period enough, but without feeling old school. It had to have a bit of edge.” “I had in mind a kind of Georgian Utilitarian aesthetic” says Luxton; but the small kitchen is an amped up version of this: bold, red and white vinyl tiles by Harvey Maria (“Charlie’s idea”, says Patrick) contrast with elegant bespoke joinery by The Building Office, painted in sultry Mahogany by Farrow & Ball.

For such an unusually shaped house, no room feels pokey. Eleven years at Farrow & Ball has made Patrick an authority on the transformative power of ‘right paint, right place’. “White walls can be gloomy,” he explains. “If you paint a poorly lit space a dark colour, it exaggerates the lightness of the other spaces. You want that counterpoint between light and dark.” This trick is in evidence in the tiny lobby, painted a deep green, Beverly, a new Farrow & Ball shade named after a late, beloved colleague at the paint company. In the hands of an amateur, the stone spiral staircase might have been painted something pale to keep it from feeling too enclosed, but Patrick encouraged Charlie to go for broke with Selvedge, a vividly bright blue. From the master bedroom, guests can soak in a roll-top bath and look out through one of The Arch’s oval windows at the shimmering lake beyond; and there’s a set of cute bunk beds, designed by Charlie, on the top floor, for younger guests.

How does it work, when two people with such strong views try to work together on a project? “Oh, we had our little battles!” laughs Patrick, “we can argue like two old biddies. But it was always good fun.” Luxton agrees: “I learnt so much from Patrick, about layering, about colour, how not to be scared of pattern. He steered me through what was a very personal journey. I’m really proud of this place,” says Luxton. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

The Arch at Fonthill is £295 per night. Book at beckfordarms.com. 

@thebeckfordarms | @paddy_od_1